A Busy Start

Hello again. We hope you had a great summer holiday and start to the new academic year.

2015/16 ends...:

Already the first half term has flown by, but we thought we’d keep you all posted as to what has been going on within the boarding community here at Ashford School.

But before we do, let’s just finish off where we left off last time. Perhaps the biggest story at the end of last year was the success of the 2015/16 ASIC students as they trod the boards at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Playmaking Festival in Stratford upon Avon on July 4^th.

Accompanied by Mrs Dengate and Mr K these budding actors travelled to Shakespeare’s birthplace and overnighted at a youth hostel just outside of town. Bright and early on Monday morning they travelled in to perform their multilingual version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in front of an audience of school children and RSC staff. Judging by the rapturous applause that met the end of the show, they did superbly well and the atmosphere in the dressing room afterward was abuzz with excitement and pride at what they had just achieved. Bravo everyone! If you would like to see a video of their show, then search on YouTube for ‘Students perform Shakespeare’. You will not be disappointed.

August time saw A-Level and GCSE results’ days. Perhaps the most noticeable achievement was that of boarding captain Sam, whose A*- studded certificates saw him gain a place in Cambridge University to study Natural Sciences. Congratulations Sam and good luck!

Also moving on to pastures new was Alfred Housemaster Mr Vaughan, who has decided to head closer to home after seven wonderful years of service. He will be profoundly missed by students and staff alike and all of us at AIB would like to wish him and his family all the best of luck in their new home in Somerset.

Mr Vaughan’s departure meant a few changes in the structure of our boarding community: Head of Boarding Mr Liston took over as Housemaster of Alfred House. Previous Alfred tutor Mr Appleton took his place in Brooke and Refuge. Mr Cook, Mr Bishop, Miss Wellings and Miss Wilson are new boarding tutors in Alfred, Brooke and Brabourne (x2) respectively.

2016/17 begins...:

It’s difficult to think now, as the leaves change and fall and the days grow shorter and darker, that we had a brand new cohort of students just seven weeks ago, bringing our community up to over 180. Each new student will bring their own personality and skills to the boarding group and this has already been seen in the exciting advent of the House Councils.

These are groups of students elected by their peers to help the boarding staff run the houses and to be the voice of the boarding student body. These students will manage some of the house finances, organise house events and represent boarders in whole school committees. We have already had the boarders’ Halloween party, held in Brabourne the Saturday before half term and the second Annual Boarders’ Table Tennis Competition, hosted by ASIC, won by Kenneth, making amends for his second place in the pool championship last year. These events were organised by the students, for the students, with minimal staff support and their success only goes to show the calibre of boarding student we have here in Ashford.

To bring you up to date, this last half term holiday saw three foreign trips: the hockey tour to Holland, the Art trip to Madrid and the Humanities trip to the Bay of Naples allowed our students several great opportunities to experience a different culture and learn many new things. AIB accompanied the trip to Italy where, in the shadow of Vesuvius, many of our boarders took in the amazing historical wonders of Pompeii and Herculaneum; a hair-raising boat ride around the island of Capri and the chance to taste pizza as it should taste! Many thanks to Dr Wood, for leading this brilliant trip and to Mrs Rayner and Mr Wilde for taking the others!

With all that since just September, not forgetting the scholars concert (where Jervis shone) we cannot wait to see what the rest of the year will hold. Including the upcoming choir performance at the Rugby League Four Nations game between England and Australia. Thank you for joining us and see you next time.